Crow Chasing the Butterfly
by pretzel-logic
Summary: Four years after Pitch failed to defeat the Guardians he finally escapes his lair, and Nightmares within, in the form of a crow. Due to a chain of events Pitch ends up stuck as a crow and in the care of an oblivious Tooth.
1. Chapter 1

disclaimer: i own nothing.

* * *

Coherent thought was becoming harder to maintain as the Nightmares continued to feast. Pitch knew he needed to escape. The treacherous beasts weren't entirely his own, corrupted _dreamsand_ after all, and there was the possibility they would only stop feeding when he was dead.

Becoming small made sense, less for the Nightmares to grasp though even a single bite could cause greater damage. At first he thought to become a cat but a cat could not fly and the only _safe_ exit lied far above. 'Shrinking' into his robe was all the distraction Pitch needed to start his flight for freedom.

He forgot how easy it was for the Nightmares to capture Tooth's fairies. A mad, desperate chase started. Pitch was outnumbered but this was _his_domain, it answered to him, weak as he was, and _not_ them. More than once Pitch let out a croaking laugh of sadistic pleasure as Nightmares ran unexpectedly, and so _shocked_, into walls and cages.

Eventually there was enough mayhem caused by his pursuers that his way to freedom opened. He left without looking back, without thinking, and paid for it when the bright and warm sun hit him. Hissing, Pitch wasn't aware crows could do so, he faltered and crashed roughly to the ground. It took some time for him to create a protective layer of shadows between him and the sun. Longer yet to manipulate his protection so it did not weigh him down.

Exhausted, Pitch hopped into a nearby bush for its meager protection and rested.

(break)

When Pitch woke it was at least a day later and as worrying as it was to lose so much time it was a comfort to know the Nightmares had not found him. He was no longer their easy meal ticket. Curse the Guardians. Are they not the 'heroes'? Did they really think he deserved to be _devoured alive_? How unexpectedly cruel. To think, they considered themselves _better_ than him but at least he only wanted to kill them; not let them be tortured to death. If his plan had worked it would have been over in _days_. How long was Pitch left to rot down there until he freed himself? The warm sun indicated summer but was it the summer after his failure or the summer of another year?

Pitch flexes his wings at the uncomfortable knowledge of not _knowing_. It can't be more than ten. At least, Pitch hoped it was less than ten years. The idea that he was left to his fate longer than that was disquieting. But then, the Guardians never made sure he was gone for good last time now did they?

Shaking his head and wings Pitch tried to physically disperse his thoughts. If he went down that path too far his fear would grow and the Nightmares would find him. Best to find a human settlement and get answers than fret over the unknown.

It was midday by the time he reached Burgess and the children out and about proved he was right about the season. It took some searching but eventually he caught sight of a calendar through a window with the year on it, 2017. Four years. He was in that hell for four years. Pitch felt cold and hollow on the inside. For some reason he felt abandoned though he could not think why. It was not as if Pitch left behind any unburnt bridges, why would anyone care to look into his well-fare? Pitch supposed he rather foolishly _hoped_ despite the reality he created.

You reaped what you sowed.

Too weak to even change back to his natural form and currently homeless, Pitch certainly was paying for his failure.

Bitter, disheartened, Pitch took flight, intending to move as far away from the place he was trapped in for _four years_ as possible.

A cracking sound was all the warning Pitch received before agony flared along his left wing and he started to fall. Panicked and squawking his distress, Pitch tried to regain his balance but his left wing was useless and he continued to fall, increasingly spinning out of control. With a sharp cry of pain he landed on the roof of an apartment building.

Somehow, through the pain and confusion he could make out voices below.

"Wow! Did you see that? I got him! On my first try too!"

"Gordon Victor Stanley! What have i told you about firing that BB gun of yours in town? Shooting at poor birds no less! Inside right now young man! You are grounded for the next week!"

"What? But mom-"

There was more but Pitch no longer listened. So a cruel child shot him. Carefully nudging his wing he could feel bones shift unnaturally. Injured and stranded on a roof open to the elements, particularly the sun; this new prison was almost as bad as his first. Weak as he was it would be days, weeks more likely, before his wing healed, no food and constant exposure to the sun prolonging the process.

Feeling defeated in a way the Guardians never managed to accomplish, Pitch slowly made his way over to what little shading the roof had. He hated children. He hated the Guardians. Mostly, he hated himself for allowing this to happen, for allowing himself to fall so far.

Once more Pitch slept though it was not peaceful.

(break)

Things changed after Pitch. The Guardians made more of an effort to stay in touch and reach out other spirits. It was long past time they became a community focused on protecting children. Things were better now. Tooth even got out in the field at least twice a month now! It was so hard learning to let go, to let her fairies do their jobs, to delegate. Now though, now she and her girls were all the stronger for it. Her little ones were becoming less like her and more their own selves. In the four years since Pitch's latest defeat, being called the Queen of the fairies no longer felt hollow.

It made Tooth pause and think. Would any of this had happened without Pitch? She liked to think it would have, eventually, but she spent over four hundred directing her girls from her hollow queendom. What reason had she, or the other Guardians, to reach out beyond her duties? To remember why being a Guardian was so important a duty. Tooth did not even know she missed being out in the field until the boys helped her collect the teeth.

Now, here she was, visiting Pippa to collect one of her last baby teeth. It was not one of her scheduled outings but the Burgess kids were important to her and the other Guardians. They saved them when Pitch was so close to winning. It was nice to have a special connection to a few children. Sure, it was a bit unfair to have favorites but the Guardians could not possibly befriend _all_ their believers and at least getting to know a few helped them remember their purpose.

So Tooth wasn't _too_ surprised to see Pippa awake when she arrived. What did surprise her was Pippa's concerned face. What was wrong? Did something happen to a family member? One of her friends? If Pitch was back and threatening _any_ child, but especially these precious few, then she was finishing off the Boogeyman once and for all, conflicted emotions or no.

"Tooth! I'm so glad you're here! You got to help him," Pippa exclaimed once Tooth made it safely through the window. The girl was already out of bed and standing in front of Tooth, hand clasped together in a pleading motion.

"Pippa, what's wrong? Who's he?" Tooth asked wanting her blades in hand _now_ but not wanting to scare the girl.

Suddenly Pippa seemed to realize how alarmed Tooth was and laughed nervously. The girl took a few steps back and wrangled her fingers, no longer able to meet Tooth's gaze.

"There's this crow-"

"A crow?" Tooth repeated thrown by how un-threatening the situation actually was and struggling to react appropriately. This is why she and the others needed the Burgess kids. They almost hurt Sophie because the was an intruder in the Warren that one terrible year.

"Some jerks shot him with a BB gun! I thought they killed the poor thing but Cupcake heard it cawing yesterday in distress. We tried to get to it but the adults stopped us! I don't think the crow can get off the roof and it's hurt. He'll die if he doesn't get help," Pippa explained and as troubling as the news was Tooth could not help but smile. Pippa was going to make a fine vet one day if she was this troubled by an injured crow.

"Alright," Tooth reassured and her smile grew as Pippa calmed. "I know a thing or two about injured birds. If I can help him, or her, I will. Now where's the address?"

One quarter for a tooth later, she was off towards the main street of Burgess to find the wounded bird. It was easy to sympathize with the bird's plight and Tooth knew better than the other Guardians how cruel humans could be, though usually it was the adults she worried about. It hurt to be reminded that children could be just as bad.

She almost missed him the first time she flew by the roof. She must have startled him however because he croaked in surprise. Tooth did not like the sound of that croak. He was already dehydrated but that was not surprising given the season and being trapped on a roof no less.

"Y-you? What are you doing here?" the crow asked nervously, hopping away from Tooth as she approached. "There's no teeth for you here, magpie."

She should really, really, be insulted at being called a magpie. She looked nothing like one! Except Tooth knew she acted no better than a magpie when she received well maintained teeth. Or when Jack smiled a little too long. Oh and hockey matches, how she loved hockey. So if a crow thought she was a magpie... she got it. Besides, it was obvious the poor thing was scared, injured, and probably hungry on top of thirsty. That wing looked nasty and was going to need a lot of help to heal right.

"Hey now, it's okay. I'm here to help," Tooth soothed as best as she could. The crow might not be able to go anywhere but she didn't need to cause him further distress by moving too close too soon.

"Help? You-you're here to help me now!? Where were you- where were you when-" the crow demanded enraged and more than a little broken. Poor thing was rather distraught.

"Well I'm here now. Come on, let me help you," Tooth pleaded.

Panting, the crow stared at her a long time before he finally relaxed. "Very well," he said softly, exhaustion obvious.

Without further delay Tooth scooped up the injured fowl and headed home. It might take some time but she would see this crow recovered.

* * *

author's note: Reading over this first chapter I realized there might be some questions about how events happened, I'm going to try to properly address them in the next chapters. Additionally, I'm not trying to Guardian-bash but, Pitch doesn't like the Guardians and thus he easily notices their faults and is quick to negatively judge them. I'm fond of Pitch being an unreliable narrator, okay?


	2. Chapter 2

author's note: Sorry for the long delay, I was facing major writer's block for this chapter. That said, I am still not happy with this chapter. It just doesn't 'flow' right in my opinion. I think this is one of those chapter I'll have to spruce up later. That said, badass Tooth makes an appearance, which always makes my day.

* * *

Pitch didn't remember much of the flight to Tooth's palace. However, he remembered their arrival to Punjam Hy loo with crystal clarity, if only because it was so different.

Or rather, the fairies were different.

A vast majority were still the tiny replicas of Toothiana with beaks but that simply made the new contrast more profound. Every hundred mini-fairies or so there would be one that was larger, or even smaller, than her sisters. Some had human faces instead of beak like noses while others had beaks similar to a swan's, a puffin's, or some other bird. These different fairies sometimes had six wings like their queen but, they also had butterfly, dragonfly, or bird-like wings. Of course the most obvious ones were the ones that were no longer green; canary yellow, cardinal red, parrot blue, and the list went on.

What had caused this?

"Quite the sight, huh," Tooth commented noticing Pitch's gaze. "I bet you never saw a flock so big... and most of my girls are off collecting teeth." Tooth had the tone of a mother's pride in her voice. It surprised him he only lost a tooth for kidnapping what were, essentially, her _children_.

Then he remembered that was four years ago and perhaps Tooth did not let him off as easily as he first suspected.

Finally noticing their Queen-mother, six fairies broke away from the swarm to greet Toothiana. Perhaps unique coloration and features were a representation of independence considering the six fairies before Pitch all had two or more unique characteristics. In almost military style the six fairies reported how tooth collection for six continents were faring during Tooth's time away.

"That's great girls. Tell Jian and Thamina to meet me in the guest bedroom. They have a patient to see," Tooth eventually said, flying away to another part of the palace as the fairies returned to the hub of activity.

The guest room was a large circular room at the top of one of the palace's towers. The furniture was sparse; a bed, a desk, a reclining chair, and a small bookshelf. The room could not really fit more with there being more window space than actual walls. Despite the openness of the room, Pitch did not feel exposed to the elements. Aside from a strong breeze Pitch doubted any undesirable weather could reach the room given its location.

"A bit big for you but this room is usually used by a friend that's quite a bit bigger than you as well. Once Jian and Thamina get here with medical supplies we'll get your wing fixed up in no time," Tooth assured Pitch.

Did she even notice how he had yet to say a word since Burgess? She was probably attributing his silence to exhaustion which was not entirely false. Pitch was no condition to maintain a conversation and really, the less he said the better. There was no guarantee he would remember to speak in the language of Crow instead of a human tongue. Pitch already had a close call on that roof, best to save his strength and keep silent.

Soon enough, Tooth and Pitch were joined by two fairies that tutted worriedly over Pitch's injured wing. Faster than Pitch expected they went about setting the broken bones of his wing so it would heal properly and then wrapped it up in a stiff splint cast. Then they made him drink a vitamin rich water, promising Pitch some proper food after he got some rest.

"Very well," he agreed when it was clear the three were waiting for a verbal affirmative.

CCtB

Tooth sighed in relief as the rather taciturn crow settled done to sleep in the nest her girls made for him on the desk. Frowning, Tooth realized she never got the crow's name. She was sorely tempted to ask him for one but, he was already fast asleep and she could not bare to wake him. The past couple days had not been kind to him and he needed all the _good_ sleep he could get.

A name was simply going to have to wait.

Anyways, she needed to get back to work. Her lieutenants were improving by leaps and bounds these days but, they could only handle so much for so long without her. This was perhaps the longest time away from directing the army she'd been since she started leaving her lieutenants in charge. It was good to see they handled the extended duration so well.

"Alright girls, I'm officially back. Go get some rest," Tooth ordered and she kept a straight face as her girls sighed in relief and quickly flew off. They wouldn't appreciate her chuckling over their dramatics.

Tooth was only back to directing her fairies for a few hours when North's lights colored the sky for the first time in four years. The Queen of the tooth fairies bit her lip as she looked between her girls and the lights.

She couldn't just _ignore_ the emergency signal but, she did not feel comfortable making her lieutenants step in once more. The boys would just have to deal with her multi-tasking, they managed alright last time.

"Jian, Thamina, watch over our guest for me while I'm gone. Make sure he gets some food and water when he wakes up and if you're needed for tooth collection leave him with the elephant, okay?" Tooth asked hurriedly, flying off as soon as her girls nodded accent.

Despite her haste Tooth was the last to arrive, her smile fading at the grim expression of her fellow Guardian's faces. "What's wrong?" She asked instead of asking after everyone's well-being like she planned. It was obvious this was no time for pleasantries.

North looked over at Sandy briefly before taking the role of spokesperson. "Sandy has spotted Nightmares. Many Nightmares and-"

"The entrance to Pitch's lair is back in Burgess," Jack added anxiously, cutting off an amused, if still grim-faced, North.

Tooth's hands covered her mouth even as she gasped in surprise. She did not understand. During their war with Pitch he always took a decade or two to lick his wounds if he lost a battle and he _never_ used the same tactics twice. There was something she was missing here...

"What else?" She demanded as she forced herself to harden. She was Toothiana, Queen and leader of the fairy army. If Pitch was determined to start a war she would face him without mercy.(*)

"The Nightmares, they are not dark sand anymore but shadow. Sandy cannot purify them," North finished explaining. "Jack thinks we should try Pitch's lair for answers but, it is likely trap."

Tooth thought over the plan before nodding and giving her fellow Guardians a small but fierce smile. "North, I'm going to need my swords back."

North startled at Tooth's order before giving a dark chuckle. It was past time Pitch remembered the Guardians weren't just 'soft-hearted fools'.

The Guardians were going to war.

* * *

* I'm as much a fan of puns as William Joyce is. I almost wrote here 'no quarter would be given.' Then mentally slapped myself and went on writing.


	3. Chapter 3

author's note: Whelp this chapter wrote itself. I had a lot of fun with it even if I'm a bit unhappy with the pacing. Ah well, carpe diem. Also, does anyone know a good book for info on various bird species (habitat, diet, mating rituals, etc.)? Between Pitch and the fairies I'm going to need it. Oh! And any particular birds you want the lieutenants fairies modeled after? One for each continent (except Antarctica).

* * *

-Part 3-

Pitch gave a small squawk of alarm when he woke up to a dozen pair of curious faces _staring_ at him. Fear spirit he might be but that did not mean he was immune to his own nature!

"Wha-what is all this!?" Pitch managed to as he backed away from the hovering fairies on his feet, mindful of his injured wing. Had they figured out he was actually Pitch Black already? But how? He'd barely spoken a wo- had he spoken in the wrong language? He was so certain he was speaking in crow since meeting Tooth on the roof but he was so _exhausted_ perhaps he had slipped? Were they here to get there own piece of justice for him caging them not so long ago?

A white-feathered fairy, one of his healers from yesterday, suddenly dive-bombed the hovering flock of fairies. The pests scattered in cries of alarm painful to Pitch's sensitive ears.

"Jian! What are you doing?" One of the starers, a normal looking fairy except for her bird-like wings, demanded once she and the others recovered.

"No! What do you think _you're_ doing? Queen-Mother left our injured guest in mine and Thamina's care. He needs rest not to be gawked at by a gaggle of overly curious fairies that should know better!" Jian practically hissed.

Pitch watched the developing fight with growing curiosity and amusement. He never understood Tooth's fairies so well, was it because he was now a crow? Or was it simply another change that happened while he was- while he was otherwise occupied?

"We were just curious, we didn't mean to startle him," another fairy, Pitch wondered with a little horror if they _all_ had names, spoke up obviously apologetic compared to her sisters.

Jian's ruffled feathers seemed to settle at that and she was clearly growing indecisive of just how much she should chew her overly curious sisters out.

"I don't mind the company but perhaps I could eat first?" Pitch asked his stomach growling loudly in agreement.

"I'll get you water!" "Food, right, I'm on it!" "Me too!" "I'll help!"

Pitch barely had time to blink before he was suddenly left alone with the dove-like Jian. He croaked his amusement at the fairy's wryly amused face.

"Sorry about that, ever since Mother-Queen started giving us names we've all grown too curious for our own good," Jian said sincerely as she moved to check the binding on his injured wing.

"They are no worse than children," Pitch said simply. Jian looked at him curious but he did not elaborate on whether that was a _good_ thing or not. Truthfully, he did not know. All the fairies sounded so young now that he could understand them, like little girls around five or seven years old. Only Jian and the fairies that reported to Toothiana yesterday seemed older, more like teenagers than children.

The fairies really were Tooth's children and he had kidnapped them all. Perhaps it was the influence of his crow form but, Pitch found the revelation disquieting. He had thought the fairies were like North's elves and yetis, no more than helpers Tooth used to see to her duties. Not her _children_.

"Are you alright?" Jian asked as she noticed his uneasiness.

Pitch eyed her warily before deciding there was no harm in honesty. "I did not know you were the Magpie Queen's children."

'Magpie' Jian mouthed before laughing. "I suppose that's true. Mother-Queen does like to collect teeth. Do you have family as well... uh, sorry, I don't know your name."

If Pitch could have smiled he would have. He was rather fond of the... quirk crows and ravens had about names.

"Crow will do."

"But that's no name! And it sounds rather rude," Jian protested, practically squawking in dismay.

Pitch let out an amused croak. "Be that as it may, crows do not have names," he explained.

"What?" a new voice shrieked. One of the gawking fairies having returned with food. "You don't have a name!?"

Almost by magic the guest room seemed to be swarmed by alarmed fairies. Pitch sensed they were almost frightened by Pitch's lack of name. Hypnotized by their alarm, Pitch felt himself growing agitated as well.

"Girls! Girls! Calm down!" ordered a fairy larger and older-sounding than most. One of Tooth's second-in-command Pitch suspected. Slowly the over-packed guest room grew calmly silent as all the fairies focused on the voice of order. "So our guest does not have a name and that simply won't do. Let's _give_ him a name."

If Pitch thought it was loud before the room was now an unholy cacophony of arguing fairies.

"How about Sasha?" "That's a girls name!" "It can be a boy's name too!"

"Blacky!" "He's not a pet and he needs a name better than _that_." "Oh, like you could do better!"

"Itzal" "Sunil" "Gethin" "Turgay" "Bran" "Guntram" "Iah"

"Chandra." "That's another girl's name!" "It's also a boy's name!"

"Rakesh" "Zeru" "Keshet"

With an amused huff Pitch settled in to watch the show as Jian made sure water and food was brought over for him. He hoped Toothiana got back soon from wherever she was. Pitch wasn't sure how many ridiculous name suggestions he could handle.

CCtB

"Swords? You use swords? Since when did you use swords?" Jack asked as they arrived at the entrance to Pitch's lair.

None of them were exactly eager to head into what could very well be a trap. Jack's questions were a welcomed delay.

"I've always used swords, even before I became a Guardian," Tooth admitted as she glanced down at her Indian sabers. They were a welcomed weight in her hands. She had missed them.

"O-kay," Jack said dubiously, dragging out the syllables for emphasis. "Then why didn't you use them last time?"

Tooth's stern warrior persona cracked a little at the question as she shared a sheepish smile with North.

Bunny's eye narrowed at the two of them in suspiciously before growling in disbelief and throwing up his arms in exasperation. "_Again_?" he demanded. Beside him Sandy just silently laughed.

Jack looked between the four of before leaning forward, using his staff to support him as a mischievous smirk grew on his face. "Oh now I know I'm missing out on something good."

With a cough North tried to hide his blush even as he shuffled his feet. "Bad habits die hard, nyet? 's why so many children stay on naughty list."

Now Bunny was smirking, stance relaxed with his arms crossed as he studied the Russian. "I don't think many ankle-biters have bad habits like_banditry_ anymore mate."

"Banditry? You were a bandit!" Jack demanded as he looked between his fellow Guardians, trying to see if they tricking him. "Really?"

"Yes," North admitted, blush fading as he puffed his chest out with pride. "Was prince of bandits. Stole half of Europe's fortune." Then noticing the expressions he was getting from the others, North turned sheepish once more. "But that was then. I am Guardian now."

"Doesn't stop you from treating my Warren like it got mysterious treasures just waiting for you to discover," Bunny pointed out dryly.

"Or my palace," Tooth added a bit of steel returning to her voice. "I broke my swords chasing him out the last time he tried to 'explore'. North hadn't finished repairing them before Pitch attacked."

"Huh," Jack said. "Okay, so we going down? Cause I don't think Pitch is coming out."

In grim silence the Guardians entered Pitch's lair. The entrance led them into the large chamber containing the many cages Pitch once used to contain Tooth's fairies and the hollow globe. The five of them spanned out, prepared to be attack at any moment, but, no attack came. Finding the large room as secure as it could be given Pitch's ability to manipulate shadows the gathered around the weak light of the globe.

"I think this goes without saying considering where we are but, am I the only one starting getting to creeped out by the lack of Pitch and Nightmares?" Jack spoke up finally.

As if waiting for a signal, a strange cackling echoed throughout the chamber. It was like the sound of a thousand insect legs on stone combined with the clip-clop of horses to create laughter. The worst part of it was as far as Tooth was concerned was how the laughter seemed to be in her mind and crawl down her spine.

"I stand corrected. That was much creepier than thinking this place deserted," Jack joked with false bravado as the Guardians moved to protect each other's backs.

"Jack," Bunny growled unhappily, ears and nose twitching as he senses stretched for any signs of danger.

"I know, I know. Don't provide the wanna-be villains with openings for dramatics and/or monologues," the winter spirit continued to joke.

"Pitch! Come out! We know you are here!" North bellowed to the surrounding darkness.

There was a moment of stretched out silence before the cackling, louder than before, echoed through the cavern and their minds once more. From the various shadows out walked Nightmares but they were different. Before the horses were made of corrupted dreamsand. Now the creatures looked to be made out of shadows, skin almost leathery where their darkness was thickest.

"WrOnG," The Nightmares spoke without opening their mouths.

"What do you mean, 'wrong'?" Tooth demanded, mentally berating herself and others for knowingly walking into a _trap_.

"PiTcH iS gOnE. dEaD," The Nightmares explained as at least fifty of them circled the Guardians. One made a snapping motion at the guardians displaying a fanged set of teeth that seemed to drip some kind of poison. "We AtE hIs FeAr." For a third time the cackling noise echoed as the Nightmares enclosed the Guardians further. The underground chamber grew quiet before the Nightmares whispered, conspiratorially, "We... AtE... hIm."

"Oh, I've had enough of this," Jack muttered before slamming his staff to the ground, an explosion of sub-zero air rushing into the shrieking horde of Nightmares. "You ate him? Yeah right! Nice try scaring us better luck next time!"

It was all the signal the other Guardians needed to engage the Nightmares. Instantly Sanderson and Tooth took the air to provide the others with arial cover. Roaring with laughter, North's sabers cut through the shadowy creatures while Bunny used his boomerangs and egg grenades to force the Nightmares back. Jack, now empowered by believers, was stronger than ever; a true force of nature.

"InSoLeNt GuArDiAnS! dEaD oR gOnE, iT mAtTeRs NoT! pItCh BlAcK iS nO mOrE! fEaR iS uNfEtTeReD!" hissed the Nightmares before they fled the cavern, leaving the Guardians with a dubious victory.

"Well, that was... anti-climatic," Jack complained as he swung his staff to rest across his shoulders. He turned away from the the various passages the nightmares used to flee and turned towards his fellow Guardians. "I can't believe they tried to claim Pitch was dead. That they ate him." Jack scoffed at the idea. "Right guys?"

The older Guardians shared an uneasy look.

"Guys?" Jack asked nervously.

"Is not... unheard of for old spirits to die and new spirits replace them," North admitted.

"But this is Pitch, North. World's more likely to croak before that ne'er do well does," Bunny argued face twisting in distaste as he realized he was complimenting Pitch.

"It's a little early to worry about whether the Nightmares were lying or not. Let's just get out of here and let the rest of the spirit community know we might have another situation on our hands," Tooth suggested. There was not much else they could do at the moment.

"I will look into way to confirm Nightmares claims," North agreed as the moved cautiously towards the exit. "Jack, Sandy, inform other spirits, yes?"

"I'll go with Frostbite. Tooth?" Bunny inquired once they were once more above ground.

Tooth wanted to help more, she did, but- "I'll send out what fairies I can spare but, I don't want to leave my palace unprotected. Not after last time."

Jack moved forward instantly, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Hey, we won't let Pitch kidnap your fairies. Not again. Do what you need to do Tooth. If we need you or if you need to know something we'll let you know."

Tooth gave her fellow Guardians a grateful smile as they gave similarly reassuring words. She'd do what she could to help as soon as she knew her palace was safe. The crow she rescued for Pippa had completely slipped her mind until arrived home to pandemonium.


	4. Chapter 4

Author's note: a reviewer (on ffnet) commented Pitch did not have as much of a cankered personality as they were expecting last chapter. I had my reasons but I see their point. Cranky Pitch coming up. Oh and Tooth POV first this chapter. Because.

* * *

"What in the world?" Tooth wondered aloud as she saw more of her fairies arguing with one another than working. How did this happen? She was only gone a few hours, ten tops! Was there an attack? Were the Nightmares a distraction? But no, someone would have reported to her if that was the case and things would not be so chaotic. They had protocol in case of attacks now and drills on how to handle invaders. No, something other than an attack happened here.

Her alarm distracted her from the actual arguments going on at first. However, now that she was focusing in on just what her girls were arguing about... names?

What?

"Oh! Mother-Queen! It's so good your back, things are out of control!" Fatima, her lieutenant for Africa, cried out in relief when she spotted Tooth.

"I can see that Fatima," Tooth said carefully, keeping her voice calm and soothing. Africa was not an easy continent to be in charge of and Tooth always tried to keep from upsetting the fairy. "What's causing all this though?"

"The crow doesn't have a name and Tweety thought it would be a good idea for everyone to try and name him," Fatime explained, wringing her hands as she looked around, tears were starting to gather in her eyes.

Instantly Tooth hugged Fatima and made calming 'shh' noises. Poor girl, having to deal with this mess after a long shift and little sleep. Even as she calmed her fairy Tooth's mind raced. She should have remembered crows and ravens don't have names, that they stopped using them after they when from respectable familiars to 'birds of the devil'. Should have known this was going to be a problem with how important names had become to her girls.

With a sigh Tooth let go of Fatima and marshaled her Queen persona once more. Hindsight was twenty/twenty as humans said and there was no point in thinking over what she should have done when there was still a problem at hand.

"Break up what arguments you can Fatima and get them back to work. I'll handle those in the big crowd," Tooth ordered.

Smiling, Fatima hovered stiffly and saluted Tooth smartly. "Yes, Queen-Mother," before zooming away to carry out her task. Cheeky girl.

Tooth was not surprised to see Tweety in the middle of the guest room, egging on her sisters whenever it seemed like the arguments were dying out. Off to the side Thamina and Jian were practically molting as they tried to calm the room down so that their patient could be in a restful setting. The crow meanwhile looked like he was split between preening under all the attention and five seconds away from pecking someone's eye out.

"Enough!" Tooth shouted and took a moment to appreciate the absolute silence that echoed after her order. "Tweety, you're on probation and we'll discuss your punishment later. Thamina and Jian; take yourselves off duty and rest. Everyone else get out and back to your station; now."

Tooth kept her posture stiff and her expression stern until the last fairy cleared out. Only then did she sag with relief and collasped to the bed with a guest loud sigh.

"I have to say," the crow commented dryly from his resting spot on the desk as he watched her. Tooth flushed slightly at the reminder she wasn't alone. "I've never seen a room cleared so quickly before," he finished sounding rather amused.

Tooth let out a small huff of a laugh as she sat up, only then remember the swords sheathed at her waist. "You sound like you know a thing or two about clearing rooms." Tooth only looked up from the task of getting her sword belt off when the crow remained silent.

He was watching her warily. Cautiously he explained with a strained flippancy, "You'd be surprised how fast little girls go from an outdoor sleeping party to one indoors when spiders and frogs starting falling on their heads."

Catching the two off-guard, Tooth found herself laughing. She could see the unfortunate girls shrieking in distress, batting at their hair and crying as they all fled inside.

"Oh," Tooth gasped, feeling beyond guilty, "I shouldn't laugh. That was _cruel_. How could you do that?"

The crow puffed his feathers, looking particularly smug not that he relaxed. Perhaps he thought she was going to scold him worse? "I didn't," he admitted. "One girl's brother and his friends did. I was simply there to see it unfold."

"Oh... sorry," Tooth said awkwardly and a heavy silence fell upon the room. "Look, about the girls earlier, they're not going to let you go without name. Names are important to them. So unless you want a name like Mr. Crow or Maria-"

"No thank you," the crow interrupted stiffly.

"-then you're going to have choose your own," Tooth finished undeterred.

She was pretty sure if crows could sneer he would be doing so right then. "Wonderful," the crow said, tone dripping with scorn.

"I know, I know," Tooth agreed as she rubbed tiredly at her forehead. "If it wasn't such a big issue I'd drop it but, surely it can't hurt to have a- a nickname for a little while?" she pleaded.

For a brief moment she thought the crow would continue to argue, instead he hunched further into his makeshift nest and sighed wearily, "After hearing that long, terrible, list your fairies gave I care not for naming myself."

Tooth could not blame him. Some of her girls gave themselves names or were given names by others in mischievous moods and those names were... unique. She was sure the names suggestions had gone from serious to 'imagine the worst impossible' rather quickly.

"Well... how about Muninn?" Tooth suggested delicately. It was the only name she could think of at the moment that might be suitable for the crow.

"Isn't that a name for a _raven_ and already taken?" the crow asked archly, sounding pleased but wary.

Tooth shook her head sadly, "No. Muninn and Hugninn have been gone a long time now. I don't think either would mind being your temporary namesake."

The crow croaked out a small laugh. "So of course you pick the one that means 'memory'. Very well, you may call me Muninn. It's bound to better than anything else your little pests can think up," Muninn agreed reluctantly.

"Hey, two of those 'pests' helped fixed your wing and I bet more of them got you all the food and water you wanted. That's no way for a guest to treat his hosts," Tooth reprimanded as she finally left the bed. Moving over to the desk she carefully picked up Muninn and held him up to her shoulder.

"What are you doing?" he demanded with some alarm but, mostly confusion.

Tooth laughed. "If you think you're going to be left alone once I leave this room you haven't seen how 'pestering' my girls can be. It's probably best if you come with me while I lead my girls in tooth collection. They can all learn your new name and sate their curiosity and maybe you'll watch what you say about my fairies after you see them hard at work."

"Oh, the joy," Muninn, voice oozing sarcasm once more, said as he reluctantly settled upon her shoulder.

"Lighten up. Your more of a sourpuss than Bunny," Tooth teasingly admonished and then wondered curiously why he bristled so badly. Sore subject?

CCtB

Pitch did not want to admit it but he was impressed. Collecting teeth was far more complex than spreading fear. He really underestimated Tooth and her little army. It was, afterall, one thing to know the fairies collected teeth in return for money and something completely different to see the process firsthand.

As if sensing his admiration, Tooth glanced at him smiled knowingly. Crows can't bristle but they can puff out their feathers enough to accurately display his displeasure.

Breaking off from her litany of locations for freshly lost teeth, Tooth giggled at the sight of him.

"I fail to see what's so amusing," Pitch snapped irritably, enjoying how his beak clacked loudly with his displeasure.

"Uh-huh. Sure," Tooth agreed sarcastically but her smile was still bright with amusement, "Sourpuss." Mischief was another possibility Pitch noted darkly.

Somehow, Pitch's mood managed to darken further as some of the eavesdropping fairies twittered merrily at his expense. Tooth studied him with growing concern and looked ready to apologize.

"Where were you?" Pitch quickly asked instead. The idea of Tooth apologizing... was unpleasant. There were hundreds of things he'd love for her to apologize for, especially if she was groveling as she did so, and he wasn't going to let her first apology be to him in _disguise_ over a _petty_ insult.

_"I know you don't like him, Sandy. I don't either. He's a creep. A creep with awful teeth."_

"Earlier, I mean. You were somewhere else while your fairies were suggesting names like 'Spot' and 'Hilary', weren't you?" Pitch clarified to keep himself focused. Tooth was the one that was supposed to be distracted.

His attempt certainly worked as Tooth silently mouthed 'Spot? Hilary?' with a look of complete disbelief, must be an inheritable habit. Shaking her head as if to clear it, Tooth frowned at him seriously.

"Guardian business. There's been Nightmare sightings and Pitch's lair has an entrance near Burgess," Tooth said slowly as continued to observe Pitch.

Did she suspect? Has his little story in the guest room given him away? Pitch was not really doing a good job at hiding his identity. Not if Tooth and the other do-gooders now knew about his return.

"Muninn..." Tooth started to ask cautiously, and Pitch waited with baited breath to see if he was discovered. "I found you in Burgess and Pippa said you were on that roof for a while. Did you see anything? Shadowy horses? Or a shadow man?"

Pitch carefully and casually exhaled. Best not to lie in case he was ever cross-examined by North or Bunny; both were astonishingly good at detecting lies. "I haven't seen any shadow men but at night there were shadow horses," Pitch answered after a moment. It was all half-truths and semantics but, there were no lies.

"I see," Tooth said softly, frowning and looking worried. Pitch tilted his hear and stared at Tooth, trying to understand the strange reaction. He was about to ask when Tooth smiled at him though it struck him as pained and forced. "Sorry I've kept you here so long when you need rest. I should let you get some more sleep."

"I feel as if I have been doing too much of that as of late," Muninn grumbled but, did not otherwise argue with Toothiana. It was only after he was left alone in the guest room that Pitch wondered if he should have told Tooth the Nightmares were searching for him.

But how could he offer such information without giving himself away? And why offer it at all? So Tooth had, rather ignorantly, welcomed him into her home and was caring for him. He didn't _owe_ her anything.

...

Except she was clearly worried about the Nightmares. She could be another defense between him and the Nightmares should they somehow find him. That idea settled with him worse than the idea of being altruistic. He wanted to scream in frustration. Pitch sighed loudly. This was getting him nowhere.

Mentally shelving the problem away, Pitch settled down more comfortably into his nest. Tomorrow, he would come to a decision tomorrow.

* * *

Okay, just an important disclaimer; the Pitch Black comic released by DWA (so it's essentially extended movie!verse canon) is quoted in this chapter. that dialogue is not mine.


End file.
